The present invention relates to a heating and cooling system comprising a first receiving chamber for receiving a material to be heated and a second receiving chamber for receiving a material to be cooled.
As shown in FIG. 5, this type of heating and cooling system has heretofore comprised: a storage chamber 201 divided into a cooling chamber 207 and a heating chamber 205 by an insulating wall 203; and a machine chamber 209 disposed under the storage chamber 201. Moreover, the machine chamber 209 stores a compressor 210, a gas cooler 212, a capillary tube 214 which is pressure reducing means, and the like, and constitutes a refrigerant circuit 220 together with an evaporator 216. An electric heater 245 is disposed in the heating chamber 205, and air heated by the electric heater 245 is fed into the heating chamber 205 by a fan 250 to thereby heat the heating chamber 205 and a material to be heated, received in the heating chamber 205.
Here, an operation of a conventional heating and cooling system 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. When an operation of the fan 250 is started by a control device (not shown), and power is supplied to the electric heater 245, the air heated by the electric heater 245 is circulated in the heating chamber 205 by the fan 250. Accordingly, the heating chamber 205 and the material to be heated, received in the heating chamber 205 are heated.
Moreover, the control device starts the operation of fans 218 and 219, and also starts a driving element (not shown) of the compressor 210. Accordingly, a low pressure refrigerant gas is drawn into a cylinder of a compression element (not shown) of the compressor 210 and compressed to constitute a high temperature/pressure refrigerant gas, and is discharged into the gas cooler 212.
Furthermore, after the refrigerant gas releases heat by the gas cooler 212, the gas enters the capillary tube 214 via an internal heat exchanger 230 and a strainer 232, pressure of the gas is lowered in the tube, and the gas flows into the evaporator 216. Then, refrigerant evaporates, and absorbs heat from ambient air to thereby fulfill a cooling function. It is to be noted that the air cooled by the evaporation of the refrigerant in the evaporator 216 is circulated in the cooling chamber 207 by the operation of the fan 219 to cool the cooling chamber 207 and the material to be cooled, received in the cooling chamber 207 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-18156).
As described above, it has heretofore been supposed that in the conventional heating and cooling system, the heating chamber is heated by the electric heater, and the control chamber is cooled by the evaporator of the refrigerant circuit. However, when the heating chamber is heated by the electric heater only, power consumption increases, and this raises a problem.
Moreover, in the conventional heating and cooling system, the air which has exchanged the heat with the gas cooler of the refrigerant circuit has been discharged to the outside of the heating and cooling system.